soccer. even if you don't care about any of it, so awesome. that's the new thing in the world today. that does it for us tonight. now it's time for the ed show, have a great night. good evening, americans, and welcome to the ed show tonight from new york. a very tense meeting this evening between president obama and congressional leaders on the debt ceiling. there are reports that eric cantor was acting like a juvenile. he's willing to risk his presidency for a debt ceiling deal. the stakes have never been higher for this president or the american people. this is the ed show. >> i'm no on raising the debt ceiling right now. >> the republicans are at war with each other. major developments on the latest debt ceiling negotiations. today was the worst day yet for ruppert. there is now a bipartisan call to find out whether newscorp

hacked american phones. you won't believe which republican wants rupert murdoch investigated. the government shutdown in minnesota means the state is almost tapped out. this is serious stuff. good to have you with us tonight folks. thanks for joining us here on the ed show. huge news, the debt limit negotiations this evening. president obama had a tense encounter with eric cantor tonight. democratic sources are telling the ed show, cantor interrupted the president three different times trying to push for a short term deal. the president refused to agree, and an anonymous republican aide told reuters the president said, i've reached the point where i say enough, would ronald reagan be sitting here saying i've reached my limit? this may bring my presidency down, but i will note yield on this. he then told the members he would see them back in the white house tomorrow. cantor ran out to the press and

claimed the president stormed out of the meeting. a senior legislative aide to a democrat who was in the room tells us cantor's account of tonight's meeting is completely overblown. that same aide also denied the report that the president has set a friday deadline. but grasping where we are right now from the republican side. for decades, the republicans have tried to chip away at the new deal. social security, medicare, medicaid, in fact, bush tried to reform social security, that was the first thing he tried to do in january of 2005. and it failed. now they have a democratic president at the table willing to make major changes in the big three, to the tune of $4 trillion across the board, and the republicans won't take the deal. it's rather amazing. why? are they afraid that president obama might do well with independent voters? are they miscalculating the fact that the base would be furious with the president if he were to

cave in on the big three? and president obama tonight in my opinion is emerging as the most honest broker maybe washington has seen in a long, long time. he openly states he's willing to put his presidency on the line to bring both sides together to get a deal, and the only way he believes that can be done is if some revenue from the wealthiest americans comes into the treasury. and the republicans won't budge. it's amazing, it really is amazing. president obama is trying to make an honest negotiations at the decade. this is what republicans have wanted for decades. they have a democratic president that's willing to do it and they walk? because of revenue? amazing. for more on tonight's meeting, sam young man. white house correspondent from the hill joins us. you've been briefed by the white

house tonight on exactly what took place at that meeting. what can you tell us? >> well, it's right out of an aaron sorkin west wing script except this has horrifying real world consequences. what the white house is saying is these reports of an abrupt walkout by a president are overblown. they're saying the president is quite from us traited. i don't know how you can be human and not frustrated by how this is going. he said what he wanted to say, he got up and walked out. one source familiar with negotiations told me that the president flatley told people in the room they are confirming what everybody likes about washington by political posturing and sound bites instead of actually trying to solve the problem. >> are the big three on the table in a big manner right now? is the president willing to negotiate major changes in benefits? what do you know.

>> a democrat president willing to talk about all three of these things. i mean, goodness, the only thing that's missing is roe versus wade. what they're talking about when it comes to medicare is raising the enrollment age to 67. that would be in 2036. i think the president is definitely willing to move on these. how far he's willing to move on these, i don't know how dramatic it would be. >> and the president, tell us about the deadline. is there really a friday deadline? >> i think just from a point of prakty kalety there has to be a friday deadline. if you're talking about doing this before august 2nd which the white house insists is a very real deadline. then have you to give congress time to write the stuff to pass it, to pass it back and forth and give to the president to sign. i think he really is setting his foot down. and one of the refrains from this white house during the

health care debate is nothing gets done in this town without a deadline. that's what we're seeing he. >> what about eric cantor's role in this. he seems to be overshadowing john boehner at this time. your take? >> well, i think that's certainly the perception that's out there, is that speaker boehner wanted to go for the larger deal. and eric cantor is speaking on behalf of house conservatives has sort of taken over the reigns. since that happened, talks have broken down. speaker boehner is probably still trying to bring the parties together like president obama is, and it's tough for me to say not being in there, it sounds like there's been some fireworks between leader cantor and the president than the president and boehner. >> sam young man from the hill, good to have you with us tonight. >> thanks. for more, let's turn to senator bernie sanders of vermont. great to have you on with us. thanks for the work you're doing. the president said he's willing

to stake his presidency on this deal? how does that reach you tonight? >> well, i think what the president is saying is, the republicans are giving us two offers. number one if we don't give them everything that they want, they're prepared to -- for the first time in the history of the united states, default on our debts in the midst of a very fragile world economy. raise interest rates in this country, cost us a significant number of jobs and perhaps deny benefits to the elderly and many other people who are waiting for those benefits. and the second option that they're giving us is, they're going to slash social security, medicare, medicaid, nutrition, education, environmental protection and not ask the wealthiest people of this country who are doing phenomenally well, whose tax rates have gone down. not ask corporations who are earning huge profits and in some cases not paying any taxes. they don't have to participate in deficit reduction, it's simply on the backs of working

families. >> it seems like president obama is willing to put the politics aside of all of this. he's willing to turn to his base as he said at the press briefing the other day. he'll take the political heat and down side of it all, he must be serious, big time because if he's willing to put his presidency on the line and put his base in jeopardy to maybe pick up a few independent voters for being the honest broker in the room, this is a big political gamble, is it not? >> i will tell you what i think. i think at the end of the day, our good friends on wall street who helped cause this recession in the first place -- a lot of the other very big businesses who fund the republican party are saying to our republican friends, you know what, enough is enough. >> cantor's not listening to that. >> cantor is not, but mitch mcconnell is, and john boehner is. >> do you think there's enough republicans out there that would take the mcconnell deal? >> i think being pressured by

big business and wall street will be. what we will have is not an optimum situation. in many ways, it's simply kicking the can down the road. compared to the other two options of defaulting or making savage cuts on programs the working people desperately need is probably the preferable option at this moment. >> moodies placed the aaa bond rating of the government of the united states on review for possible downgrade given the rising possibility that the statutory debt limit will not be raised on a timely basis. what's your take on this? are we turning the hourglass on the american economy? >> absolutely. look, everybody knows the economy is in disastrous shape right now, if we default. if interest rates go up, if there's turmoil in the international economy. this will make a very bad situation much worse. and i think people like john boehner and mitch mcconnell and corporate america are beginning to catch on to that reality. >> what is your response to the

president when he told an anchor in an interview that he couldn't guarantee that the checks would be there on april 3rd? that he couldn't guarantee the social security checks would hit people's bank accounts if we don't take action? what's your response to that? true or false. >> there are differences of opinion about that. there are some who would argue, and i would tend to agree. given the fact that social security is a $2.6 trillion surplus, you can figure out a way, and you must make sure that seniors and disabled vets get their checks. >> so you would take issue with the president on that statement, that he may have been fear mongering in a sense? >> what he is saying is look, there's not enough money here to pay our debts, that's true. i think in fact, we can pay social security. let's be clear. if we default, it is a disaster, no sane person wants that to happen. >> are we getting closer to the question of a real possibility and a constitutional move by the

president? >> that's another option that's out there. the president has kind of not put that front and center, i happen to believe that at the end of the day because of the impact of the business community. all the money they raise for the republicans, i think some of our republican friends will see the light and in fact we will not default. >> are the republicans as arrogant as they seem, senator? >> i think you got a group of them who in their hearts believe that government should not be involved in social security, medicare, medicaid, education. certainly, they want to -- even after the wall street fiasco, do more deregulation there, deregulation of the energy companies and so forth. that is it what they believe and they believe it passionately. >> but they have the very president at the table willing to do that, and they won't take the deal because there might be some more revenue involved. i find this amazing. >> the columnists, the

conservative columnist from the new york times brooks made the point that these guys can't take yes for an answer. they've won. they already have obama making far more concessions in my view, than he should have made. but it's still not good enough for them. >> and finally, did the president do the right thing tonight from the reports that you've heard the way he handled that meeting and his stance right now? >> absolutely. i think the american people are catching on that republican on continue answer saying it's their way or the highway is not what american government is supposed to be about. i think the president did do the right thing. >> if the president has the republicans taking this deal, i don't know how he gets re-elected. i don't know how those basers go out there and write the $25 checks. i don't know how they go door to door, keep the confidence. >> i don't think that's the end result going to be. i think you're going to see kind of a stalemate, no significant action on deficit reduction

right now, but in fact, no default. probably the best option at this moment. >> and it just seems like mitch mcconnell is willing to fight the president on another day and concede this fight. that's what it seems like. vermont senator bernie sanders, great to have you with us. don't forget to answer tonight's question, should the president risk his job for a debt ceiling deal? text a for yes, b for no. you can always go to our blog and comment at ed.msnbc.com. we want to know what you think. more on the debt ceiling. talks coming up with jonathan alter. united steel wokkers international president. newscorp phone hacking scandal keeps getting worse for rupert murdoch. one of the most outspoken conservatives in the congress is asking the fbi to investigate. i, the planned combination

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mitch mcconnell tries to take bag his deal to give president obama the power to raise the debt limit. after feeling the heat from his fellow republicans, heat of discussion coming up. all different opinions. an one of these abandoned racetracks in america today. automotive performance is gone. and all we have left are fallen leaves and broken dreams. oh. wait a second. that is a dodge durango. looks like american performance is doing just fine. ♪ carry on. ♪

house republicans are furious at mitch mcconnell's back door attempt at passing the debt ceiling increase. the senate minority leader ran to the safe haven of right wing radio today to save his plan. >> just like we knew shutting down the government in 1995 was

not going to work for us. it helped bill clinton get re-elected. i refuse to help barack obama getting re-elected. by marching republicans into co-ownership of a bad economy. >> they have sole ownership. bush tax cuts, endless war. they own it all. that's what was handed to this president. mcconnell is desperately trying to make president obama look like the bad guy so he can sell his own party his deal. mcconnell says the president isn't giving him any good choices. >> one is that the republican party become a tax collector for the welfare state. and no republican party i've ever had the privilege to serve is going to take that deal. or that we have a bipartisan agreement to accept a smoke and mirrors deal and call it good. not on my watch. >> mcconnell can spin that garbage all he wants. it will never convince the

radical republican house to take the deal. the poster child of the mcconnell problems is michele bachmann. >> president obama is holding the united states hostage so he can continue his spending spree. we're saying president obama, is your spending spree really that important to you? that you would put at risk, the full faith and credit of the united states? >> no doubt, republicans are all over the place on this issue, and at each other's throats. joining me now is jonathan alter. judd son phillips, the founder of the tea party nation. and leo girard is the president of the united steel workers international of america. gentlemen, great to have you with us tonight. mr. phillips, i'll start with you much yhave been very critic the republican leadership.

the reports out of the white house tonight make it seem like eric cantor has taken over negotiations for john boehner. is that a good thing in your opinion? >> i think it's a good thing, if cantor takes over, boehner can't raise his freshly laundered white flag of surrender again. >> is this what you want? do you want eric cantor going in there, holding the line on taxes, when you have a president who is willing to do something on entitlements? >> absolutely. we have a spending problem, we don't have a taxing problem. americans are taxed too much as it is. spending is out of control. this is not something we've never seen before. look at what's happened in portugal, greece. we're not nearly as far along as they are. we can stop now, but not if we go the barack obama route. >> mr. girard, the president says he's willing to put his presidency on the line. what does that mean to you and workers in this country. >> i think what we're dealing

with is a recalcitrant republican party. and a republican party that refuses to deal with reality. what michele bachmann said is fundamentally wrong, the same as what mitch mcconnell said. this deficit was brought to us by george bush with, excessive tax cuts from billionaires and millionaires. we don't have a spending problem in this country, we have a jobs crisis. we have to get people back to work. this whole debt ceiling thing is a mirage, they raised the debt ceiling seven times for george bush. he brought us from a surplus -- let's not get amnesia here. we had a surplus when bill clinton left the white house. he spent that in the first few weeks, and gave us tax cuts that amounted to trillions of dollars. this president is trying to do the hon hable thing, and we watch these right wing republicans fight each other and stab each other in the back verbally. i think what we have, we have to show america. we have to show america that

these guys aren't serious, the only serious adult in the room is president obama. >> the play the president made tonight and what he said, what do you make of it? >> i think the president is in a very strong good position right now. the republican party is divided. he is about to be able to go out on the campaign trail in 2012. if they move forward with some variation of this mcconnell kicking the can down the road idea which is very likely to happen. he's going to be able to go out there and say, look, i wanted to cut $4 trillion and put this country on a sound fiscal basis. the republicans said no, because they were interested in protecting corporate jets and their wealthy backers, and so he will look like the budget cutter. the person who is fiscally responsible in the 2012 election. that's a pretty good place to be. they're the ones who blew up the deal. they walked out four times.

>> but cantor has -- is not going to warm up to any kind of deal that mitch mcconnell proposes. >> mcconnell is a powerful guy. they don't have the votes to pass any deal. they don't want to get blamed for default. that's not very clear. the republicans know that that will destroy their party. they're going to come up with some figure leaf along the lines of what mitch mcconnell. >> will a figure leaf work for the tea partiers in congress? >> a figure leaf is not going to work. what we have said, what the tea party has said, we want this problem solved. there's a really simple way to solve this problem. we're spending way too much money. >> come on, give me a break, whoever said that. >> the problem we've got is we inherited a mess, that's the problem. >> no, we inherited a mess from

nancy pelosi, harry reid and barack obama. >> you're busy protecting millionaires and billion areas. you're busy protecting people who are paying 15% on their earnings. >> the union workers you would like to put out of jobs with your -- >> if millionaires -- >> if tax cuts created jobs, bush should have left office with full employment. >> five years ago there was full employment. 5% employment. we have 9.2% unemployment now. hello. beam me up scotty. which was better. >> -- than bush did in his whole term. >> you're just making stuff up. >> that's reality. you are the one miking stuff up. >> hold on, jonathan alter. >> i want to make a couple points to mr. phillips. first of all, the massive fax cuts at the beginning of the bush administration did not

create jobs in this economy. there were very few jobs created during these eight years. >> would you agree with that, mr. phillips? >> tax cuts didn't create jobs. please tell me why in 2004 and 2005, we had full employment? >> we never had full employment. >> yeah, we did, go look at the history. >> another point, this is central, i think that mr. phillips is out of touch with his own voters. if you go and talk to tea party supporters around the country and you ask them -- >> funny, i actually talk to them probably more than you do. >> could i finish my sentence. you ask them a choice, would you like to cut $4 trillion from the debt or would you like to protect loopholes for wealthy corporations? would you accept a deal that closed those loopholes and cut 4 trillion from the deficit? they all will take the deal. it's only their leadership.

>> no, they won't. >> people like you and some of the folks on capitol hill who don't realize where the real mainstream republicans are on this issue. they're not -- >> that's an amazing creative writing on your part. >> the fact of the matter is, we have a jobs crisis, we don't have a spending crisis. and this republican party has been in office now. this leadership in the house for seven months, they haven't brought forth one proposal or passed one bill that will put people back to work. all they want to do is protect tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. we have to put an end to that stuff. >> mr. phillips, i'd like your response to moody's warning the united states credit rating could be affected if no deal is reached by august 2nd. do you agree with their assessment. and are the tea partiers willing to cast that assessment aside and just go for broke? >> moodies has said they're

worried about our debt or our credit rating. that doesn't mean they're going to downgrade us, that means they're worried about it. what i would like barack obama to do is pay attention to what the american people said in this last election when the republicans got put in charge of the house of representatives, in historic proportions, running on the ranks of cutting spending and no new taxes. >> he's willing to cut $4 trillion. and tea partiers are standing in the way of it, because you won't give up any more revenue from the wealthiest americans. mr. phillips, that's where we are tonight. >> it's not the wealthiest americans. it's the people who create the jobs in this country. the gentleman said there's a job crisis. yeah, there is a job crisis. you want to create jobs, let's make it easier for people to create jobs. let's cut the taxes. let's cut the regulations. >> let me calm down and make this one point. we just extended the bush tax cuts last year. coming on the heels of ten years of those massive tax cuts that have helped create this huge

deficit and they haven't created any jobs. trickle down doesn't trickle down. all it does is line the pockets of the already rich and powerful. what we need now, is we need jobs, we need a jobs bill. if people were going back to work, the deficit would come down. >> i'm just curious who you think creates jobs? who creates jobs? >> well -- >> or do you create jobs? i think the rich people of this country do create jobs? let's sample people. you don't create jobs. you create a lot of hot air, but that's about it. >> not the billionaires that are sitting on a trillion dollars on their bank accounts. >> what did they do, win the lottery? no, they became successful and created jobs. >> you tell me the head of the insurance industry that paid himself 400 million -- >> that doesn't mean they have to back every stupid loophole for wealthy corporation to create small business to create

jobs. you can have incentives for job creation in the private sector and have revenue increases to help bring down the deficit. they're not mutually exclusive. >> gentlemen, i've enjoyed it. i hope our audience has as well. >> thank you for the invitation. beer is drying up in minnesota because of the state government's shut down. the psycho trio of michele bachmann, louie gomert and king. only bachman wins a trip to the zone.

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now it's getting serious in minnesota. the minnesota government shut down. threatening to choke off summer itself. fishing and beer drinking. the land of 10,000 lakes has not been issuing new fishing licenses since the shutdown began on july 1st. the problem is starting to wreak havoc for popular fishing communities that depend on the recreational dollars. the licensed anglers can continue to fish, but the dnr told some individuals they can fish on the honor system, and get a permit when the shutdown ends. no confirmation from the dnr on that one. now, more important, the state's licensing system for beer and alcohol is slowly killing off sales and really hurting businesses.

miller coors has been told to remove all 39 brands from store shelves over the next few days. because it didn't renew its license before the shutdown began. they have to get their license from the government, but they're shut down. on top of that, the licenses for about 300 bars, restaurants and liquor stores across the state have expired. more will expire in the month of august. the minnesota twins will be back on thursday but for baseball fans, who knows how much beer is actually going to be left. this is a domino effect to the government shutdown in minnesota's economy, it will continue to hurt. there are no new talks scheduled between mark dayton and the republican legislative leaders. a major business deal falls apart on ruppert mur dog. now there's word he's looking to sell off his u.k. newspapers as members of congress call for investigations. the latest on newscorp scandal next. chlgs and later your donations,

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i guess you could say it's not a good day to be rupert murdoch when a conservative republican starts calling for federal investigations into newscorp. peter kay in new york wants the fbi to find out if newscorp journalists bribed a police officer to access voice mail accounts of 9/11 victims. the newscorp employees should face felony charges if the allegations are true. senate democrats are also asking the justice department and the securities and exchange commission to investigate. senator robert menendez and his new jersey colleague frank lautenberg are concerned the bribery accusations violate federal law. the senate commerce committee

chairman jay rockefeller and barbara boxer also call for federal investigations. this comes on the day newscorp announced it is taking over b sky b. the wall street journal reported that newscorp is looking to sell its entire u.k. newspaper unit. joining me to explain what this means for murdoch and newscorp is elise hogue, the senior adviser of media matters. great to have you with us tonight. >> great to see you. >> will any of these investigations come to fruition? do you think that congress will go down this road? >> if you had told me two weeks ago these senators and congress people would be calling for investigations, i would say i hope you're right. i'm not sure. this story is gathering steam every day. i think what the call for representative king shows us is that even a media mogul like

murdoch has influence. if people are asked to choose between the 9/11 victims and murdoch, the choice is clear. >> what do you think of him saying he's selling off his newspapers, that's his culture, his family, his power? >> i think it's an enormous deal, not only in terms of the culture and the shape of the company, but in terms of his legacy. i think it raises a really significant question. should this guy be able to call himself a newsman? he has entertainment nailed. fox entertainment is very profitable. and fox news is basically entertainment. so i think what we're going to see is if he asked to sell off the u.k. news outlets, the australians have laufrmed an investigation. if there's evidence of wrongdoing in the newspapers and any evidence of wrongdoing hee, this guy can't be trusted to run journalistic outlets. >> how significant is it that

peter king, and he probably won't be the last conservative to step out and say this, obviously, fox is a big presence in new york, maybe he's the guy that's got to take the lead on this, how significant is it that peter king would go down this road and say the fbi should get involved? >> i think it's hugely significant. whether or not we can prove the allegations about the 9/11 victims, we have to connect the dots, the very same man who headed up news of the world, executive editor at a time all of this misdoing was going on, was then promoted by rupert murdoch to be ceo of the dow jones. the allegations against the 9/11 victims should be the final point that we can wait no longer to investigate. we cannot afford for this scandal to get as widespread and brutal as it has in the u.k. before we do our due diligence. i think representative king

because he's from now and he's wrapped himself up with the 911 families, sees the writing on the wall. >> listening in on conversations and all the discussion about the legalities and the parameters and the guidelines. the democrats were up in arms over that. very concerned about oversight. the word oversight was the most used word on talk radio in america for three months. >> absolutely. >> why are only three democrats going at it now, when fox has been not only the nemesis, but if they're listening in on conversations and wiretapping and doing such stuff as this, are the democrats a little slow to the punch on this? >> well, you know, we feel like all of the lawmakers have been slow to the punch. again, this has been going on for five, six years in the u.k., and all of the evidence pointed to the fact that murdoch's influence was global. why weren't these practices

global. after senator rockefeller came out last night, we have five senators, two democratic congress people already calling for investigations. and we're just thinking it will start to snowball from here. you're right, americans do not want to tolerate irresponsible security breaches with regard to national security. the idea that the most powerful media man in the world could do it just to sell a newspaper is beyond reproach. i think it's too soon to tell, but one of the things we do know is that ailes is not above this kind of behavior on his own. he was caught misappropriating newscorp resources on his own time to have investigators from newscorp tail a small town newspaper editor that ailes thought was bad mouthing him. ailes is notoriously paranoid. the question we need to ask is why did nobody raise an eyebrow

that he was using private investigators? because it was commonplace? >> it's interesting how the conservative media is not paying too much attention to this story. thanks for joining us tonight. >> thank you. this just in from senator lindsey graham on south carolina on the debt ceiling. the senator said our problem is, we made a big deal about this for three months. how many republicans have been on tv saying, i am not going to raise the debt limit? mr. graham included himself among those who have been talking to the media and basically lying when they said there is a debt ceiling crisis. we have no one to blame but ourselves is his quote. for those of you who have been watching this program you know that we have been saying this is a madeup crisis, and now we have a republican senator from south carolina confirming it in the new york times edition tomorrow? much more on that tomorrow for sure. michele bachmann has spent

the last two years telling americans president obama is destroying the country. now she's saying it's the president who's scaring the american people. that's coming up. 50 billion network devices will roam the earth. that's seven devices per person. this will change how we work in ways we've never before imagined. what do you need to secure your people, their devices, and your business? a network that can evolve and grow to protect your human network.

rmgs i am angry, we're all still very angry. and i'm motivated to carry this as far as we have to to get our state back. >> they're showing us the template on how to fight back against these right wingers. and it was a tough night in wisconsin. the voters in wisconsin are fed up with the gop's dirty tricks, despite their best efforts to sabotage the recall campaign. yonkerman and five other fake democrats were defeated last night. all six real democratic candidates winning across the board. the state democratic party is asking the republicans to fork

out the dollars for this scheme. it cost local governments across the state over $400,000. today state democratic chair mike tate called on governor walker and his republican buddies to reimburse the taxpayers, his quote, they have no credibility to speak on shepparding tax dollars moving forward. tate says the democrats are in good shape heading into the recall election. they need to gain three states to win control of the state senate and reverse the radical agenda of walker. and we'll be broadcasting from madison, wisconsin next month to cover it all. stay tuned, the ed show, for details. hey, dad, you think i could drive? i'll tell you what -- when we stop to fill it up. ♪ ♪ [ son ] you realize, it's gotta run out sometime. [ male announcer ] jetta tdi clean diesel.

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congresswoman michele bachmann and her tea party buddies. they got together today to hold a blockbuster psycho press conference. the crazy club took to the microphone to weigh-in on the debt ceiling fight. bachman got into her psycho

group criticizing president obama for saying the government may not be able to pay out social security checks if republicans don't step up and lift the debt limit. >> we were all shock and appalled that president obama dangled out in front of the cameras the senior citizens may not get their checks. that's a very dangerous statement to make. we need to get our act together here in washington, d.c., so that we're serving the american people not scaring them. >> michele bachmann is accusing the president of scaring the american people? this michele bachmann? >> they use the u.s. census information to rounds up the japanese and put them in the internment camps. >> there are provisions for what i would call reeducation camps for young people. i want people in minnesota armed and dangerous. this has the potential of changing the dynamics of freedom forever, so bureaucrats will decide if you get in to see a doctor. now we've moved into the realm

of gangster government. gangster government. that takes us to gangster government. the government has a pistol, and they put a bullet in every chamber and they want you to play russian roulette. turning our country into being a nation of slaves. >> michele bachmann has made a career out of dangerous statements. for her to turn around and accuse the president of the united states of scaring the american people is reckless psycho talk. coming up, the national association of free clinics has helped thousands of people who receive free health care at the clinics around the country. we'll talk to a man who's donated his time to an organization. comes centrum.

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welcome back to the ed show. wide like to make a correction, last night we told you newscorp received $4.8 billion in tax refunds over four years. the information from a reuters article by david kay johnson was inaccurate.

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welcome back to the ed show and thanks for watching tonight. another reminder that msnbc and the ed show are teaming up with the national association of free clinics. these are great people. together we will hold a clinic on august 29th in new orleans, louisiana. and it's only possible because of your help. your help in the past and your help this time as well. the organization has previously held seven clinics, those clinics have helped thousands of folks get health care. to make a donation or learn more about volunteering at the new orleans clinic, visit their website at freeclinics.u.s. you can also text the word health to 50555 to make a $10 donation by phone. it would be greatly appreciated. i want to talk more about the volunteer effort. joining me now is retired schoolteacher jim conklin, a free clinic volunteer, and will be meeting and greeting the folks at our upcoming free clinic in new orleans. thanks for your time tonight,

jim. i appreciate it. why did you choose this organization and this event to help out? >> i chose this organization 18 months ago. after katrina, i volunteered with habitat for humanity. and new orleans became a special town for me. the people of new orleans became very special to me. when i heard on msnbc 18 months ago, there was going to be a health clinic in new orleans. i said to my wife, let's go back, and let's get involved with this. and when i went there, i met nicole and the national association of free clinics and i found my niche in retirement. >> well, they're great people, and you have found that out. the people that come to these free clinics, what do you see, what do you hear, what do you learn? >> i've seen the face of the underinsured and the uninsured. i've seen the face of

unemployment, poverty in america. and i've learned that the importance of keeping this discussion going cannot be overstated. >> you don't have to have a medical background to be a volunteer. i want our viewers to know that tonight. if you're sitting at home wondering, how do you be a part of it, we'll give you that information. i've seen these clinics, i've been to a number of them, it's amazing the stories that unfold right in front of your eyes, what kind of impact has this had on you. >> i shook the hand of a man in washington, d.c., who told me that he had not seen a doctor in 30 years. we are absolutely changing lives with what we do at the national association of free clinics. >> i remember being at some of them last year, you'll run into people who are working two jobs just to keep their head above water. they don't have health care, they haven't seen a doctor in several years, and they just want to go there to get their blood work done, to get their blood pressure done, to get some advice, to get a checkup, and it's amazing what they find out

and it's amazing how they are helped. and i guess i have never seen americans donate to something and then right in front of your eyes, have it be so rewarding. i mean, we have saved lives. i have seen the national association of free clinics save lives at these clinics, and i'm sure you've seen the same thing. >> i saw in -- i forget which clinic, a man was getting an ekg and he was having a heart attack while his ekg was happening. i saw an appendicitis happening while he came to our clinic. we've absolutely saved lives. we've saved lives on more than a few occasions. >> no doubt. thank you for joining us tonight, and thank you for your volunteer effort. look forward to seeing you down in new orleans. for more information about volunteering or making a donation. go to freeclinics.us. you can